Two Choices

Ξ May 17th, 2012 | → 0 Comments | ∇ Life |

"When life becomes very difficult we have two choices: to accept what is happening or to resist it and suffer".

~Victor Frankl

Homophobia

Ξ May 14th, 2012 | → 0 Comments | ∇ Life |

IF the essence of Jesus is summed up in words that John’s Gospel attributes to him, "I have come that they may have life and have it abundantly," then our choice is clear. Homophobia diminishes life; it does not make it more abundant. It must be ended; it cannot be tolerated.

Traditional Marriage?

Ξ May 10th, 2012 | → 1 Comments | ∇ Life |

"We’ve arrived at a point where the president of the United States is going to lead a war on traditional marriage"

~Rush Limbaugh on his Wednesday show…..His first, second, third and fourth wives could not be reached for comment.

Are You an Anti-gay Christian?

Ξ May 1st, 2012 | → 0 Comments | ∇ Life |

"The anti-homosexual position does not belong to a deity…. it belongs to you."

 

~quote from Andrew Hackman on his blog, "Hackman’s Musings"

Where Are You Jesus?

Ξ April 30th, 2012 | → 0 Comments | ∇ Life |

 

*A repost from several years ago. Still so pertinent.

Ah, Jesus

Where have you gone?

When did we lose you?

Was it when we became so certain that we possessed you

That we persecuted Jews, excommunicated doubters,

Burned heretics, and used violence and war to achieve conversion?

Was it when our first-century images,

 Collided with expanding knowledge?

Or when Biblical scholars informed us that the Bible does not 

Really support what we once believed?

Was it when we watched your followers distorting people with guilt, 

Fear, bigotry, intolerance, and anger?

Was it when we noticed that many who called you Lord

And read their Bibles regularly

Also practiced slavery, defended segregation, approved lynching, 

Abused children, diminished women, 

And hated homosexuals?

Was it when we finally realized that the Jesus who promised 

Abundant life could not be the source of self-hatred, or

One who encourages us to grovel in life-destroying penitence?

Was it when it dawned on us that serving you would require

The surrender of those security-building prejudices

That masquerade as our sweet sicknesses?

We still yearn for you Jesus, but we no longer know where 

To seek your presence.

Do we look for you in those churches that practice certainty?

Or are you hiding in those churches that so fear controversy

That they make "unity" a god, and stand for so little

That they die of boredom?

Can you ever be found in those churches that have 

Rejected the powerless and the marginalized, 

The lepers and Samaritans of our day, 

Those you called our brothers and sisters?

Or must we now look for you outside eccesiastical settings,

Where love and kindness expect no reward, 

Where questions are viewed as the deepest expressions of trust?

Is it even possible, Jesus, that we Christians are the villains

Who killed you?

Smothering you underneath literal Bibles, dated creeds,

Irrelevant doctrines, and dying structures?

If these things are the source of your disappearance, Jesus, 

Will you then reemerge if these things are removed?

Will that bring resurrection?

Or were you, as some now suggest, never more than an illusion?

By burying and distorting you were we simply 

Protecting ourselves from having to face that realization?

I still seek to possess what I believe you are, Jesus:

Access to and embodiment of the Source of Life,

The Source of Love, The Ground of Being, 

A doorway into the mystery of holiness.

It is through that doorway that I desire to walk.

Will you meet me there? Will you challenge me,

Guide me, confront me, reveal your truth to me & in me?

Finally, at the end of this journey, Jesus,

Will you embrace me inside the ultimate reality

That I call God in whom I live & move & have my being? 

~ a poem by John Shelby Spong

 

Mt. Stupid

Ξ April 27th, 2012 | → 1 Comments | ∇ Life |

Trying to get extreme fundamentalists to see that the Bible doesn’t condemn homosexualty:

 “Sometimes it just feels like you’re wearing roller skates while trying to climb Mt. Stupid.”

~from John Shore

 

Have You Heard This Before?

Ξ April 25th, 2012 | → 1 Comments | ∇ Life |

*from Jim Palmer’s blog

 

"You are an abomination to God.

 

God doesn’t like you… can’t… won’t… ever.

 

At least you’ve got your fire insurance policy; be thankful, you’re one of the few lucky ones.

 

Fall in line, be good, follow the rules, check the boxes, write the checks, play church.

Listen to them; they are smarter, they are holier, they are… well, just trust me.

 

Being yourself is offensive to God so be like Jesus… oh yeah, you can’t – he’s God and you’re not.

 

Don’t look inward, ignore what your gut is telling you, mistrust anything inside you.

You’re forgiven but don’t screw up; that’s the best it gets for now, the really good stuff comes in heaven… I promise.

 

You can’t really be free so put that thought out of your mind.

 

Humanity is divided and you can’t change that; leave well enough alone.

 

You’re not smart enough, spiritual enough, gifted enough, or good enough.

 

Love, peace, beauty and harmony? Come on, grow up!

 

Play it safe and do what they say or you may go off the deep end.

 

If it’s not working, try harder.

 

It’s all true."

What Does the Bible “Say” About Abortion?

Ξ April 24th, 2012 | → 1 Comments | ∇ Life |

*This is a response by Brian McLaren to a question he was asked on his blog.

"In 1979, McDonald’s introduced the Happy Meal.

 

Sometime after that, it was decided that the Bible teaches that human life begins at conception.

Ask any American evangelical, today, what the Bible says about abortion and they will insist that this is what it says. (Many don’t actually believe this, but they know it is the only answer that won’t get them in trouble.) They’ll be a little fuzzy on where, exactly, the Bible says this, but they’ll insist that it does.

That’s new. If you had asked American evangelicals that same question the year I was born you would not have gotten the same answer.

That year, Christianity Today — edited by Harold Lindsell, champion of “inerrancy” and author of The Battle for the Bible — published a special issue devoted to the topics of contraception and abortion. That issue included many articles that today would get their authors, editors — probably even their readers — fired from almost any evangelical institution. For example, one article by a professor from Dallas Theological Seminary criticized the Roman Catholic position on abortion as unbiblical. Jonathan Dudley quotes from the article in his book Broken Words: The Abuse of Science and Faith in American Politics. Keep in mind that this is from a conservative evangelical seminary professor, writing in Billy Graham’s magazine for editor Harold Lindsell:

God does not regard the fetus as a soul, no matter how far gestation has progressed. The Law plainly exacts: “If a man kills any human life he will be put to death” (Lev. 24:17). But according to Exodus 21:22-24, the destruction of the fetus is not a capital offense. … Clearly, then, in contrast to the mother, the fetus is not reckoned as a soul.

Christianity Today would not publish that article in 2012. They might not even let you write that in comments on their website. If you applied for a job in 2012 with Christianity Today or Dallas Theological Seminary and they found out that you had written something like that, ever, you would not be hired.

At some point between 1968 and 2012, the Bible began to say something different. That’s interesting.

Interesting indeed. Just as savvy denizens of our media-saturated culture must learn to interpret the rhetoric of advertising, religious folks must learn to interpret the rhetoric of preaching and religious discourse. When folks say, "the Bible says…" we should hear, "We interpret the Bible to say…." Sometimes what’s at stake is trivial. Other times it’s a matter of life and death – as in issues like abortion, climate change, torture, racial and religious supremacy, and war."

Politics

Ξ April 18th, 2012 | → 4 Comments | ∇ Life |

In the last eight years, I have become apolitical. I really dislike the whole landscape of politics. It is so us vs them in nature. As an historican, I have not always been that way. Since I began this journey of mine, sometime over ten years ago, I have assumed the apolitical stance. It was not planned. It just happened. Or maybe it didn’t. I cannot fully explain why I have come to see politics so negatively, other than the antagonistic nature of our system. Where is the compassion for each other here in the U.S., and for "the other" world-wide? We have to learn to somehow, IMO, eliminate the idea of "the other" and think of all of us as one. The only way out of this is compassion (love).  I don’t see it. I long for it. 

What’s to Happen to Traditional Christianity?

Ξ April 13th, 2012 | → 2 Comments | ∇ Life |

*Follow the link to a good article on this subject. John Shelby Spong has been encouraging this approach for several years.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/diana-butler-bass/a-resurrected-christianit_b_1410143.html